Review: Public Enemy at Yoshi’s

An announcement was made prior to the band taking the stage at Yoshi’s San Francisco on Friday night. And it wasn’t the usual one, telling the crowd to silence cell phones and put away any recording devices.

Instead, this announcement instructed us on the proper way to say all right – which, for this function, was “aiiiiiiiiirght” – and informed us, repeatedly, that we were about to witness a “hip-hop show.”

That was just one sign that we were in for something different on this evening. And, boy, were we ever – Public Enemy performing at a club that most associate with jazz music.

Granted, Yoshi’s San Francisco has greatly broadened its offerings since opening in 2007, moving from strictly jazz to also include R&B, rock, pop and other flavors. Yet it still seemed like an extraordinary booking when the club landed one of the most important hip-hop groups in history.

The big draw was to see the legendary rap group – ranked No. 44 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” – play an intimate club that holds roughly 400 people. It was tantamount to seeing Elton John (No. 49 on Rolling Stone’s list), Aerosmith (No. 57) or the Police (No. 70) perform in such a setting. Actually, for the hip-hop head, it was bigger.

Public Enemy did not disappoint during the 8 p.m. set – the first of four shows over two consecutive nights – as it revisited one of hip-hop’s most storied songbooks in concert. The approximately 90-minute show, constricted by the two-set format at Yoshi’s, didn’t give the group adequate time to fully explore its repertoire. So, lead rapper Chuck D said Public Enemy had to operate like a football team on a “two-minute drill.”

“We are going to condense and compress, and try to impress,” he said.

The latter happened the moment the group took the stage. The New York group – Chuck D, hype-man Flava Flav, little-used-rapper Professor Griff and DJ Lord – was joined, as per usual, by members of the S1W security force. The burly guards looked menacing, dressed in tan camouflage outfits and standing at attention (when they weren’t doing an occasional dance routine), but their presence also served to strengthen the politically charged and militant messages found in the band’s music.

Public Enemy was also accompanied by a three-piece live band, which didn’t factor into the show as much as one might think. That’s because DJ Lord is such a magician on the turntables that Public Enemy really doesn’t anything else behind its rhymes.

The group performed close to a dozen numbers, most of which would belong on a greatest hits compilation. Fans of 1988’s “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” and 1990’s “Fear of a Black Planet” – two offerings that belong on any shortlist of all-time best hip-hop albums – were probably pleased with the set list.

Few have ever commanded a microphone like Chuck D did back in Public Enemy’s heyday, and he’s lost very little over the years. He knows how to sell a line, utilizing both scare tactics and undeniable charisma, and had fans pumping their fists in the air to “Don’t Believe the Hype” and “911 is a Joke.” His conviction, combined with the sharp lyrics, made those 20-plus-year-old songs sound as relevant for today as anything you’ll hear on modern hip-hop radio.

What makes Public Enemy so fascinating, however, is what happens when Chuck D and Flava Flav combine forces. They seem like polar opposites, but they complement each other so well on stage. Chuck’s the cool, intense customer, the visionary in town to make a statement, while Flav’s the pure entertainer, willing to crack jokes, do ridiculous dance moves and converse with the crowd. It’s easy to take Flav’s contributions for granted, but the dynamic wouldn’t be nearly as unpredictably explosive without him.

Public Enemy ended the concert with a triumphant take on equally political and catchy “Fight the Power” – the song immortalized in Spike Lee’s 1989 joint “Do the Right Thing” – a fitting close to a hip-hop show that was far more than just “aiiiiiiiiirght.”